Private company

Carta

Logo: Carta, Inc, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

American software company

eShares, Inc., doing business as Carta, Inc., is a San Francisco, California-based technology company that specializes in capitalization table management and valuation software. The company digitizes paper stock certificates along with stock options, warrants, and derivatives to allow companies, investors, and employees to manage their equity and track company ownership.3 From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 16, 2026.

Overview

2012Founded1
  • Industrysoftware industry1
  • HeadquartersPalo Alto1
  • Websiteesharesinc.com
  • Incorporated inDE5
  • Business address195 Page Mill Road #101, Palo Alto, Ca 943065

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eShares, Inc., doing business as Carta, Inc., is a San Francisco, California-based technology company that specializes in capitalization table management and valuation software. The company digitizes paper stock certificates along with stock options, warrants, and derivatives to allow companies, investors, and employees to manage their equity and track company ownership. The company also operated CartaX, a private stock exchange, which was shuttered in 2024.3

How it started

History

Carta was founded as eShares in 2012 by entrepreneur Henry Ward and serial investor Manu Kumar. Ward became CEO and Kumar became the company's Chairman. The company launched when the founders saw a need for venture-backed companies to electronically manage equity, issue securities, and track their cap tables.

In August 2015 eShares raised a $17 million Series B, led by Spark Capital.

In October 2016 eShares partnered with cloud-based human resources company Zenefits to add equity management to Zenefits' platform.

On September 1, 2017, eShares acquired competitor Silicon Valley Bank's valuation business Silicon Valley Bank Analytics (SVBA). In October Carta raised a $42 million Series C, led by Menlo Ventures and Social Capital. Matt Murphy of Menlo Ventures and Arjun Sethi of Social Capital joined the board of directors. In November, CEO Ward announced in a blog post that eShares would start doing business under a new name, Carta.

In December 2018 Carta raised $80 million in series D and reached a valuation of $800 million, led by Tribe Capital and Meritech Capital Partners.

From Wikipedia’s article on Carta, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 2012Founded Founded1

Sources

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